บท 12: A new territory
For the next two days Sobek always went fishing in the inlet. At that time he had managed to capture four stethacanthus.
Freshwater sharks were particularly abundant in the inlet: the absence of larger predators due to the shallow water had favored their spread. Unfortunately, it couldn't be said that there were thousands of them: Sobek had only managed to take a couple each day.
That number was insufficient to satiate him. To make up for it, Sobek had fed on one of the onchopristis captured by his parents. It didn't provide any experience points, as it had been killed by another spinosaur, but at least his stomach was full.
However, the effort was not in vain: he had gained other 4 skill points from the sharks. In total, he now had 4.1 skill points. Just one more stethacanthus and he might have upgraded [Swim speed] one more time.
In addition, his experience points had also risen, even if much slower than before: he now had 6,180 points. Just a little longer and he would have reached level 7.
Unfortunately, no stethacanthus had shown up for more than half a day. Although the group of fishes below him wasn't small at all, Sobek hadn't seen anything of interest.
At least until the evening. There, illuminated by the light of the setting sun, a eight-legged figure had begun to approach walking on the bottom.
[Prey identified: Brontoscorpio anglicus, eoscorpiidae. Experience: 1,000 points]
Sobek froze at the sight. Brontoscorpio was a prehistoric one meter long scorpion!
Sobek was much larger than the arthropod, but his experience reminded him that most scorpions were very poisonous. He couldn't possibly get hit by its sting!
In fact, as well as scared he was also confused. From what he remembered from his past life knowledge, brontoscorpio was a sea scorpion: what was it doing in the river?
Then he understood. The brontoscorpio had probably go up the river from the ocean and arrive there.
The brontoscorpio was an almost absolute predator in the Silurian period, but in that messy world the sea was dominated by other much larger creatures. For monsters like dunkleosteus, megalodon, basilosaurus or mosasaurus the brontoscorpio was just an easy meal. Even non-apex predators like plesiosaurus or tanystropheus could capture it. The river was definitely a quieter environment, so the scoprion had been up it for miles.
Even though he was afraid of its sting, however, Sobek was also tempted. The brontoscorpio could get out of the water, so it was able to prey on small animals if it wanted to; that means it could provide skill points! It wasn't a stethacanthus, but by its size it probably wouldn't have been much different. However, he had to avoid the sting at all costs.
He had already prepared a plan. He just had to wait for the scorpion to go where he wanted.
Attracted by the group of fishes, the brontoscorpio crawled forward snapping its claws, trying to catch one or two of them. Sobek waited for the scorpion to be exactly under his forelimbs, then he lowered his entire body!
His forelegs fell straight over the brontoscorpio's body while his mouth grabbed the tail and pulled upward. Under normal circumstances the whole scorpion would have been thrown away; but since Sobek had trapped it with his paws, the brontoscorpio's tail ripped like a snack.
Once he had devoured it, Sobek reached down again to tear off the claws, but he discovered that there was no need to do it: his weight had literally crushed the brontoscorpio. It was already dead from the start.
Sobek realized that he had overestimated its opponent. He had assumed that the scorpion would have fought, but now that he thought better about it, there was no way the brontoscorpio could survive if a three-ton weight crashed on its back.
When he finished devouring the brontoscorpio, he discovered that it had given him 0.9 skill points! "Seriously? The exactly amount I needed? It seems a little too perfect as a coincidence..." he thought doubtfully.
Whatever that was, he could now upgrade [Swim speed] to level 3/5. He now received a x6 sprint every time he activated it; it meant that since his top speed was currently 7 km/h, he could reach 42 km/h in the water, enough to escape any predator, obviously assuming he was able to spotted it before it bite or catch him.
If he had leveled up two more times he could have reached 54 km/h. At that point he could also have beaten several fishes at speed, so he could have chased the preys instead of just waiting.
That wish was not too far from coming true: thanks to the brontoscorpio, he now only had to gain other 820 experience points to reach level 7.
Sobek set off on his way back to the nest, but as he did that he used [Swim speed] to prey on several small fishes in his way. Since each of them provided 50 to 100 experience points, they were still a good investment, even if not in the long term. Thanks to them, his experience rose to 7,600 points.
When he arrived at the nest he also realized something else: he had to find his own territory. The inlet of the river was his parents' fishing ground: he could only go there because he was their son. But sooner or later he would have had to look for a corner of the river and make it his own hunt territory.
Very soon he would have reached 7 meters in length. By then he would have been larger than several other carnivores. That would have been the time to go on his way.
He would obviously have continued to enjoy the protection of the herd while he slept, but he had to learn to fend for himself. This for a very specific reason: once he had evolved he would have become a different species, so he would no longer have been able to stay with the herd. It was therefore essential to learn the laws of the river before that moment came, so that he already knew how to survive on his own when he should have go away.
With this thought in his head, the next day he didn't even wait for his father to wake up: he got up early in the morning and he dove into the river alone.
The river was large and full of strategic points: Sobek didn't doubt that he would have found a suitable area for him. The key was to avoid areas that were too deep: the chances of finding a prehistoric crocodile or snake were very high there. As long as he remained in shallow water, however, he would at least have been able to spot the predator early and then flee.
He swam for about four kilometers, until he reached a place that looked promising. It was a reservoir formed in the middle of the river, no more than a couple of meters deep, where he could easily touch the bottom. The water was clear, so he could spot any predators. There was also an abundance of fish and many of them were quite large.
Sobek's first thought was obviously to level up, that's why just as the day before he used [Swim speed] to eat several small fishes and get the 400 experience points he was missing. Moreover, in that way he was able to completely map the seabed, making sure of the absence of hidden dangers.
However, he wasn't able to avoid getting a good fright: at a certain point a shadow passed in front of his eyes and for a moment his heart stopped, fearing he had met a crocodile. Fortunately, the System reassured him.
[Prey identified: Acanthostega gunnari, acanthostegidae. Experience: 800 points]
The acanthostega was an ancient amphibian lived in the Carboniferous period similar to a salamander. It was about twice as long as a brontoscorpio or a stethacanthus, but unlike them it was basically harmless (that was probably the motivation for the few experience points it provided). It was still able to yield 0.5 skill points.
After devouring it, Sobek was able to level up. After the typical stretching sensation he immediately opened the main interface of the System.
[Spinosaurus aegyptiacus]
Level: 7
Length: 7 m
Height: 2.7 m
Weight: 3.5 ton
Diet: carnivore, fishivore
Strength: 901
Agility: 830
Defense: 302
Maximum speed: 8 km/h
Experience points: 410/10,000
Skill points: 0.5
Fame points: 0/1,000,000
Bonus money: 950
One of the most famous predatory dinosaurs was the carnotaur and its minimum length was estimated to be 7 meters. Sobek had reached that size by now, even though he was nowhere near its lethality. It was a milestone!
His next goal was to improve [Ambush]. And fortunately that little reservoir seemed full of preys suitable for use.
It was unlikely that the acanthostega was alone. If he searched hard, he was sure to find other large amphibians that could provide him skill points.
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